The present invention generally relates to pointing stability jitter analysis and, more particularly, to a window average statistics model for pointing stability jitter analysis.
Pointing stability jitter analysis is one of the most important analysis tasks in attitude control subsystem (ACS) design. Pointing stability analysis provides the following critical information before the launch of a spacecraft: a pointing stability of the spacecraft following a maneuver profile command; a pointing robustness at a target in space during a long period of time in a mission; a pointing performance of spacecraft attitude jitter with particular ACS pointing requirements being met or not met. Without an analysis of the pointing jitter to make sure the information is within given requirements there would be no mission.
Typically ACS designers will need to run hundreds of simulation cases to ensure that all of the simulation cases are within the pointing requirements after the attitude controller or ACS design is complete. Running numerous simulation cases is a time consuming task and places a huge burden on the designers who perform the task. A solution is needed that reduces substantially and almost eliminates the need for running numerous simulation cases by providing a statistics model to almost eliminate the cumbersome endless simulation runs. The heart of the problem with other people's attempts is the need to run numerous simulation runs. There is a need for a solution that cuts down design cycle time, lowers project cost and helps prevent lost revenue.
When analyzing thousands of signals out of hundreds of simulation runs, a single violation of the pointing stability requirements can cause an ACS design, to fail. Since modifications to the ACS are often inconvenient and time consuming, failures of this type can be very costly. There is a need to solve the pointing violation problem without alterations to the ACS set design. A solution is needed to accomplish this by using a statistics model to accurately predict how a particular ACS design will function ahead of time.
At present, there is no tool for pointing jitter signal analysis that does not require altering the ACS design. Without a statistical solution, designers, using typical solution methods, would simply overwhelm the ACS computer with hundreds, if not thousands, of simulation cases. After collecting the simulation cases, the designers would hope that signals were all within the necessary pointing requirements.
As can be seen, there is a need for pointing stability jitter analysis in an attitude control subsystem that avoids numerous simulation runs. The analysis of the information is critical to the launch of a spacecraft. Without a proper analysis of pointing jitter properties to make sure they are within given requirements there can be no mission. There is therefore a need for avoiding numerous simulation runs in order to provide the pointing jitter properties that are compared with given requirements in determining whether or not a mission can proceed.